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Julie Ahadi on the shift from theory to implementation, spoils to be had, and converting the trepidatious barrister
Interest in AI has been growing across many chambers. At Doughty Street, we have been actively exploring AI’s potential to make us more efficient and improve client services. Enthusiasts within our team are regularly using and trialling AI tools, assessing the things AI allows us to do that we couldn’t do – or certainly do as well – before, and how that will offer new advantages.
The Gartner Hype Cycle outlines the progression of new technology through five phases: it starts with rapid escalation to a peak of inflated expectations, followed by a decline into the trough of disillusionment. Next, it ascends the slope of enlightenment, where realistic applications emerge, and finally reaches the plateau of productivity, demonstrating consistent, viable use cases. Each AI product progresses at its own pace, making it hard to separate hype from genuine innovation. However, clear examples are emerging where AI is being effectively used in legal work and in the administrative management of chambers, suggesting that some aspects may indeed live up to the hype.
It will surprise but few by now, to learn that the most promising applications of AI we’ve found for practitioners in Chambers are in legal research. AI tools can bring back coherent and coherently sourced answers to legal queries and quickly analyse vast amounts of case law identifying relevant precedents and insights much faster than more conventional online research tools. This not only saves valuable time but can assist with ensuring a more thorough and – hallucinations aside – accurate analysis. Additionally, AI-driven document review systems can streamline the review and analysis of case papers, reducing the hours spent on sifting through documents and allowing barristers who utilise these tools to focus on more strategic aspects of case preparation.
To bring all this to life for those whose curiosity about AI had reached a tipping point at Chambers, civil barrister Graham Denholm and I ran an internal AI training session in July to show in real time how this can all be achieved. Such tools should ensure that sensitive legal information is secure and used appropriately within legal contexts, albeit practitioners must satisfy themselves as to the security of a given product for their particular use case.
When assisting one attendee whose interest in AI had suddenly piqued following the training session, I was asked to run some legal queries in Chat GPT 4o and Lexis AI+. The response after sending over both responses was simply ‘OMG’. The member in question was aghast at the speed at which these tools had churned out a response. Combined, it saved them a whole day of research time. (I’d certainly recommend this ‘see for yourself’ approach with AI for anyone else trying to get barristers’ attention!)
While it is certainly true that enthusiasm for AI is growing, we must still approach its integration with care and attention. There are still significant limitations that need to be addressed before it can be fully embraced by the profession without due caution, and practitioners must diligently check and assess the outcomes of research queries, citations provided and data analysis.
Another key blocker we are hearing from our barristers who have explored and seen for themselves the benefits of implementing generative AI into their legal practice is cost. Many of the legal AI tools on the market are currently very expensive, and as such, many of our members are on the fence, not entirely sold on whether to take the hit, especially if the biggest and best public facing LLMs with endless amounts of investment might catch up with their legal-specific counterparts and implement similar levels of data safety guardrails. Given the pace things are moving, mere months will generate a whole new set of capabilities and developments in AI. Therefore, it’s something we are watching very closely as it will ultimately be in chambers’ best interest to support and educate barristers to incorporate any tools that help to supercharge their practice and keep pace with their contemporaries, especially so if the adage circulating that ‘AI will not replace a barrister, but a barrister who uses AI might’ has legs.
And for those following the conversations around AI disrupting the knowledge economy, there is an argument that AI will help to level up the playing field in law for new entrants and established practitioners alike. Research has shown that AI is acting as a significant equaliser, enhancing the capabilities of less proficient individuals more substantially than those of their high-performing counterparts (Mollick, E (2024) ‘Co Intelligence: Living and Working with AI’, WH Allen). This trend suggests a potential decrease in the barriers to entry for various professions and a reduction in the performance gap between the best and worst practitioners. From an economic theory perspective, this shift is likely to impact professional fees due to the principle of scarcity: as the supply of competent professionals increases, the value of their services is expected to decline. Consequently, as AI disseminates knowledge more broadly, the market value of specialised professionals, such as barristers, may depreciate. This may seem like a while off, but it is something we should all – practitioners and chambers management alike – be mindful of and start to build into risk and strategic planning.
While so much attention is (rightfully) focused on the delivery end and the future of the profession, there are also plenty of ‘quick wins’ and spoils to be had making wider use of AI on the chambers administrative and management side. For instance, the Power BI reports we have integrated with live LEX data are being enhanced regularly to show meaningful data. While Power BI is mainly a business intelligence tool, it integrates AI features to provide visualisations and the ability to explore data in more granular way.
We have also recently updated our suite of website accessibility tools (via ‘Recite Me’) to include a page summariser tool, driven by AI. This innovative tool automatically simplifies webpage content into digestible summaries, making information more accessible and reducing reading time. Its simplified summaries can be read aloud by our screen reader and translated into over 100 languages. On the subject of accessibility, a barrister followed up after the internal AI training session to say that technology helps them overcome their physical impairment, and that it’s likely AI will be of great use in this regard. For instance, AI can assist barristers with visual impairments by reading and analysing large volumes of documents, highlighting relevant information, and summarising key points, reducing reliance on visual tasks.
And there’s more: using Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), we have implemented an internal ChatGPT system that has been trained on our plethora of policies to enable quick and easy responses to queries with sources cited. It seems Microsoft CoPilot, once we get there, will supercharge our daily work. While it pains me to reveal a personal superpower enabler, for chambers operational directors / COOs, Gamma AI is a fantastic tool to bring ideas to life. Gamma AI is an advanced AI-powered presentation tool designed to help users create polished and visually appealing presentations quickly and efficiently. (Usual rules apply regarding checking terms of use and removing any sensitive or proprietary data.)
It’s an exciting time all round, and our general position on the Gartner’s AI Maturity Model right now, is happily transcending Awareness, and now teetering between Active and Operational (levels 2 & 3). It may only be a matter of time before we are pushed by the general tide to fully embrace the next two phases (Systematic and Transformational) but for now, it’s ‘steady as she goes’ mid-lane progress, with a strong dose of both enthusiasm and trepidation brewing; from various pockets within Chambers.
Julie Ahadi is Director of Operations & Strategic Planning, Doughty Street Chambers. She is responsible for enhancing member experience, governance and innovation, overseeing several back-office functions and leading cross-functional projects to enhance operational efficiency and brand identity.
Interest in AI has been growing across many chambers. At Doughty Street, we have been actively exploring AI’s potential to make us more efficient and improve client services. Enthusiasts within our team are regularly using and trialling AI tools, assessing the things AI allows us to do that we couldn’t do – or certainly do as well – before, and how that will offer new advantages.
The Gartner Hype Cycle outlines the progression of new technology through five phases: it starts with rapid escalation to a peak of inflated expectations, followed by a decline into the trough of disillusionment. Next, it ascends the slope of enlightenment, where realistic applications emerge, and finally reaches the plateau of productivity, demonstrating consistent, viable use cases. Each AI product progresses at its own pace, making it hard to separate hype from genuine innovation. However, clear examples are emerging where AI is being effectively used in legal work and in the administrative management of chambers, suggesting that some aspects may indeed live up to the hype.
It will surprise but few by now, to learn that the most promising applications of AI we’ve found for practitioners in Chambers are in legal research. AI tools can bring back coherent and coherently sourced answers to legal queries and quickly analyse vast amounts of case law identifying relevant precedents and insights much faster than more conventional online research tools. This not only saves valuable time but can assist with ensuring a more thorough and – hallucinations aside – accurate analysis. Additionally, AI-driven document review systems can streamline the review and analysis of case papers, reducing the hours spent on sifting through documents and allowing barristers who utilise these tools to focus on more strategic aspects of case preparation.
To bring all this to life for those whose curiosity about AI had reached a tipping point at Chambers, civil barrister Graham Denholm and I ran an internal AI training session in July to show in real time how this can all be achieved. Such tools should ensure that sensitive legal information is secure and used appropriately within legal contexts, albeit practitioners must satisfy themselves as to the security of a given product for their particular use case.
When assisting one attendee whose interest in AI had suddenly piqued following the training session, I was asked to run some legal queries in Chat GPT 4o and Lexis AI+. The response after sending over both responses was simply ‘OMG’. The member in question was aghast at the speed at which these tools had churned out a response. Combined, it saved them a whole day of research time. (I’d certainly recommend this ‘see for yourself’ approach with AI for anyone else trying to get barristers’ attention!)
While it is certainly true that enthusiasm for AI is growing, we must still approach its integration with care and attention. There are still significant limitations that need to be addressed before it can be fully embraced by the profession without due caution, and practitioners must diligently check and assess the outcomes of research queries, citations provided and data analysis.
Another key blocker we are hearing from our barristers who have explored and seen for themselves the benefits of implementing generative AI into their legal practice is cost. Many of the legal AI tools on the market are currently very expensive, and as such, many of our members are on the fence, not entirely sold on whether to take the hit, especially if the biggest and best public facing LLMs with endless amounts of investment might catch up with their legal-specific counterparts and implement similar levels of data safety guardrails. Given the pace things are moving, mere months will generate a whole new set of capabilities and developments in AI. Therefore, it’s something we are watching very closely as it will ultimately be in chambers’ best interest to support and educate barristers to incorporate any tools that help to supercharge their practice and keep pace with their contemporaries, especially so if the adage circulating that ‘AI will not replace a barrister, but a barrister who uses AI might’ has legs.
And for those following the conversations around AI disrupting the knowledge economy, there is an argument that AI will help to level up the playing field in law for new entrants and established practitioners alike. Research has shown that AI is acting as a significant equaliser, enhancing the capabilities of less proficient individuals more substantially than those of their high-performing counterparts (Mollick, E (2024) ‘Co Intelligence: Living and Working with AI’, WH Allen). This trend suggests a potential decrease in the barriers to entry for various professions and a reduction in the performance gap between the best and worst practitioners. From an economic theory perspective, this shift is likely to impact professional fees due to the principle of scarcity: as the supply of competent professionals increases, the value of their services is expected to decline. Consequently, as AI disseminates knowledge more broadly, the market value of specialised professionals, such as barristers, may depreciate. This may seem like a while off, but it is something we should all – practitioners and chambers management alike – be mindful of and start to build into risk and strategic planning.
While so much attention is (rightfully) focused on the delivery end and the future of the profession, there are also plenty of ‘quick wins’ and spoils to be had making wider use of AI on the chambers administrative and management side. For instance, the Power BI reports we have integrated with live LEX data are being enhanced regularly to show meaningful data. While Power BI is mainly a business intelligence tool, it integrates AI features to provide visualisations and the ability to explore data in more granular way.
We have also recently updated our suite of website accessibility tools (via ‘Recite Me’) to include a page summariser tool, driven by AI. This innovative tool automatically simplifies webpage content into digestible summaries, making information more accessible and reducing reading time. Its simplified summaries can be read aloud by our screen reader and translated into over 100 languages. On the subject of accessibility, a barrister followed up after the internal AI training session to say that technology helps them overcome their physical impairment, and that it’s likely AI will be of great use in this regard. For instance, AI can assist barristers with visual impairments by reading and analysing large volumes of documents, highlighting relevant information, and summarising key points, reducing reliance on visual tasks.
And there’s more: using Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), we have implemented an internal ChatGPT system that has been trained on our plethora of policies to enable quick and easy responses to queries with sources cited. It seems Microsoft CoPilot, once we get there, will supercharge our daily work. While it pains me to reveal a personal superpower enabler, for chambers operational directors / COOs, Gamma AI is a fantastic tool to bring ideas to life. Gamma AI is an advanced AI-powered presentation tool designed to help users create polished and visually appealing presentations quickly and efficiently. (Usual rules apply regarding checking terms of use and removing any sensitive or proprietary data.)
It’s an exciting time all round, and our general position on the Gartner’s AI Maturity Model right now, is happily transcending Awareness, and now teetering between Active and Operational (levels 2 & 3). It may only be a matter of time before we are pushed by the general tide to fully embrace the next two phases (Systematic and Transformational) but for now, it’s ‘steady as she goes’ mid-lane progress, with a strong dose of both enthusiasm and trepidation brewing; from various pockets within Chambers.
Julie Ahadi on the shift from theory to implementation, spoils to be had, and converting the trepidatious barrister
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